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Announcing Weather Geek Stuff – www.weathergeekstuff.com

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Weather Geek Stuff is a new site with a wide array of weather related clothing and novelties.
Weather Geek Stuff is a new site with a wide array of weather related clothing and novelties.

As avowed “weather geeks”, we are never afraid to let folks know of our hobby – some might actually call it an obsession.  🙂   In order to let us proclaim our interest in the weather ThorntonWeather.com has launched Weather Geek Stuff – www.weathergeekstuff.com. 

Powered by Café Press, we have created a bunch of “Weather Geek” logo merchandise.  There is even “Weather Diva” logo merchandise stuff for ladies and kids can get stuff in their size as well.  We have also created some ‘warning sign’ logos that are pretty amusing that can be put on all sorts of different items.  There is even ThorntonWeather.com merchandise! Everything from t-shirts to polo shirts and from coffee mugs to clocks are available, all with a cool logos and graphics. 

By buying items from Weather Geek Stuff, you will be helping to support this website.  All proceeds from sales of items go directly to the somewhat considerable costs for maintaining ThorntonWeather.com and updating with the new features you have come to appreciate. 

With the holidays coming up, Weather Geek Stuff will make great gifts for the Weather Geek or Weather Diva on your shopping list! 

Climatology, Severe Weather, Weather Education

ThorntonWeather.com sneak peek – Storm Chasers episode 4 preview

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The probe trucks await an opportunity to deploy their instruments on Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers.
The probe trucks await an opportunity to deploy their instruments on Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers.

We continue to be granted sneak peeks of new episodes of the Discovery Channel’s Storm Chaser’s (Sunday’s @ 8:00pm MST).  Last week corn husks fell from the sky on the scout crew after a tornado had passed and Reed and the TornadoVideos.net team chased a twister in the dark. 

As the show chronicles the 2008 storm season, it is now getting into what was the most intense period of the summer.  This coming Sunday’s episode guide says:

NIGHTMARE ON DOW STREET – Nov. 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Halfway into the season, TIV1 returns to action, and the whole team heads first toward Oklahoma and then into Arkansas. Monster hail storms batter the fleet, but the vehicles forge ahead as tornadoes start touching down all across this part of the Great Plains. Everyone gets to feast on the tornado bounty, but after dark, a twister chases the chasers in the streets of Stuttgart, Arkansas.

This week’s episode sneak peek –  The storm chasers race to outrun a devastating twister as it quickly catches up to the team’s TIV-1 vehicle in this clip from Storm Chasers.

Colorado Weather, Severe Weather, Weather Education

Wild Western Weather 2008 announced

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Wild Western Weather 2008 will be held on November 18th.
Wild Western Weather 2008 will be held on November 18th.

The channel 7 24 / 7 Weather Center has accounced an exciting event – Wild Western Weather 2008.  The event will be held at the Wild Life Experience in Parker on Tuesday, November 18th from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.  This looks to be a great event with a number of notable speakers.  

Some of the highlights include: 

  • Tim Samaras – Tornado Expert – featured in National Geographic Magazine, “Inside Tornadoes – The Latest Research: Twistex 2008” 
  • Tony Laubach – Storm Chaser – “The Windsor Tornado vs Douglas County Landspouts” 
  • Dr. Walt Lyons – Lightning Researcher – “Flash Facts – Red Sprites, Blue Jets and Other Rare Airities” 
  • Ethan Green – Director, Colorado Avalanche Information Center – “Avalanches and the Big Snow Winter of 2007-08” 
  • Dr. Thomas Schlatter – NOAA’s Earth System Research Lab and the University of Colorado – “The Pine Bark Beetle – A Canary for Climate Change?”

    • I do wish they had chosen a more central location for it or at least held the event on the weekend.  It is pretty tough for anyone who works and lives north to try to make it down there. 

    For more information, check it out on channel 7’s website here:  http://www.thedenverchannel.com/weather/5103957/detail.html

    Thornton Weather

    This week in Denver weather history – November 1 to November 8

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    This week in Denver weather history - November 1 to November 8
    This week in Denver weather history - November 1 to November 8

    Lots of snow and lots of wind are the common theme when looking back at this week in Denver weather history.  Certainly fall always brings the wind and November is our second snowiest month and the history books definitely seem to back that up.

    1-2   IN 1892…SNOWFALL TOTALED 5.0 INCHES IN DOWNTOWN DENVER.
            THIS WAS THE ONLY SNOW OF THE MONTH.
          IN 1956…HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 7.0 INCHES AT STAPLETON
            AIRPORT.  THE STORM WAS ACCOMPANIED BY MUCH BLOWING AND
            DRIFTING SNOW.  NORTH WINDS GUSTED TO 47 MPH.
          IN 1991…THE STORM SYSTEM WHICH HIT THE FRONT RANGE AT THE
            END OF OCTOBER FINISHED THE JOB DURING THE START OF
            NOVEMBER.  SIX INCHES OF NEW SNOW WERE RECORDED AT BOTH
            ROLLINSVILLE AND MORRISON…WHILE 2.9 INCHES OF SNOW
            FELL AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE NORTHEAST
            WINDS GUSTED TO 17 MPH.  THE TEMPERATURE CLIMBED TO A
            HIGH OF ONLY 19 DEGREES ON THE 2ND…SETTING A RECORD
            LOW MAXIMUM FOR THE DATE.
    Continue reading This week in Denver weather history – November 1 to November 8 →

    Thornton Weather

    ThorntonWeather.com sneak peek – Storm Chasers episode 3 preview

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    Test
    The three stars from Storm Chasers: Sean Casey - TIV Chief and Champion Storm Chaser, Dr. Josh Wurman - Research Meteorologist, and Reed Timmer - TVN Lead Storm Chaser, Meteorologist

    A little birdie with the Discovery Channel popped in with a surprise for me and for ThorntonWeather.com readers – a sneak peek at this coming Sunday’s episode of Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers! 

    For those that haven’t seen the show, it is must see TV, even if you aren’t much into weather.  The show chronicles a team of storm chasers as they crisscross the Great Plains hunting tornadoes.  They have an array of high tech gagetry at hand to help them in their chase to further our understanding of the storms including the TIV – Tornado Intercept Vehicle.  The TIV’s primary function?  To drive into a tornado! 

    The third episode’s summary says:

    Storm Chasers
    Mutiny on the Plains
    Sunday, Nov 02 at 10:00 pm E/P on Discovery Channel
    Tensions mount between Sean and Josh, as Reed offers to chase with the TIV. Reed chases a risky nighttime tornado into the hills of Arkansas, while Sean and Josh return to Greensburg, Kansas one year after a twister nearly wiped the town off the map.

    Without further ado, ThorntonWeather.com’s sneak peak of the episode.  In this scene small pieces of debris fall from the sky after meteorologists Danny and Aaron track down a funnel cloud in Rock Valley, Iowa.

    Climatology, Thornton Weather

    Snow on Halloween more fact than fiction

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    Snow on Halloween? Popular belief is that we seem to have a lot of snow when the trick or treaters are out on the street.
    Snow on Halloween? Popular belief is that we seem to have a lot of snow when the trick or treaters are out on the street.

    Conventional wisdom in the Denver area is that it always seems to rain or snow on Halloween.   I know as a kid it seemed like Mother Nature always put a damper on our trick or treating. 

    But, is there any truth to this urban legend?  Or is this just one of those times where our memory doesn’t serve us quite right? 

    This year it certainly looks like we have nothing to worry about but  the National Weather Service has been kind enough to compile weather statistics just for Halloween.  As it turns out, the thought of snow and rain on Octboer 31st isn’t just in our minds! 

    Click here to read all about Halloween and Denver’s historical chances of snow.

    Climatology, Severe Weather, Weather Education

    2009 National Storm Chaser Convention dates announced

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    The 2009 National Storm Chaser convention will be February 13 - 15, 2009.
    The 2009 National Storm Chaser Convention will be February 13 - 15, 2009.

    The dates for the 11th annual National Storm Chaser Convention have been announced.  The event will be held February 13th to the 15th at the Red Lion Inn in Parker.  As usual there looks to be a great lineup of speakers and of course it will certainly be informative and fun.  The agenda is still being finalized but some of the highlights announced thus far include:

    This year’s convention promises to be the biggest and best yet! The convention is held each year in Denver, Colorado, and is geared for you, the storm chaser, spotter and storm enthusiast, to be the premiere gathering of the year. Because of the intense severe storm and hurricane season that 2008 brought, we have been able to gather some of the best scientists and forecasters in the world to present at this year’s convention. Dr Steve Lyons, hurricane expert for The Weather Channel, will be this year’s keynote speaker. From the National Hurricane Center, we welcome lead forecaster Dr Jack Bevens.

    On the severe storm side, we welcome Dr Greg Forbes from The Weather Channel, and are also excited to welcome back Dr Howie Bluestein. We are also excited to have Rich Thompson, lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction center, as well as meteorologist Jon Davies. Tim Marshall will once again bring is attention getting presentation to our convention. We have several other speakers that you won’t want to miss!!! So sign up early and tell all your friends to come to the 2009 National Storm Chaser Convention.

    For more information, visit the convention website at:  http://chaserconvention.com/

    Climatology, Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather

    November 2008 weather preview posted

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    A Preview of Denver's November Weather - Will it be a Fall Month or a Winter Month?
    A Preview of Denver's November Weather - Will it be a Fall Month or a Winter Month?

    A preview of Denver’s November weather – Will it be a fall month or a winter month?  Typically November is a quiet weather month with plenty of nice, fall days but it can also turn wet with plenty of snow and moisture.  Just like Forest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates, you never quite know what you are going to get.

    Looking into the weather history books, we see that November is actually Denver’s second snowiest month, second only to March (April is third).  Historically we average 10.7 inches of snow during the month.

    Click here to read our complete November preview and see what to expect for the month.

    Climatology, Colorado Weather, Severe Weather, Thornton Weather, Weather Education

    ThorntonWeather.com junior stormchaser chases tornado for 7News

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    ThorntonWeather.com junior stormchaser Bobby pursued a tornado in Weld County yesterday and provided live reports for 7News.  Watch the video below (you may need to turn up the sound due to a lot of background noise).

    [hana-flv-player video=’https://www.thorntonweather.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/7news.flv’ /]

    The DOW - Doppler On Wheels - as seen on Storm Chasers.
    The DOW - Doppler On Wheels - as seen on Storm Chasers.

    🙂  Okay, so maybe not but it still is kind of fun.  This was taken yesterday at NCAR’s Super Science Saturday in Boulder.  Channel 7 was there with their “24 / 7 Weather Experience” which was a lot of fun as it gives folks a small taste of what goes into a weather broadcast.  Unfortunately Mike Nelson, author of our favorite weather book, wasn’t there when we were but this was probably the highlight of the day up at NCAR for the kids.

    There was also a bit of a celebrity there too as Justin Walker from Discovery Channel’s Storm Chasers TV show was there with their Doppler On Wheels (DOW) truck – a mobile radar vehicle.  Justin serves as one of the team members from the Center for Severe Weather Research that chases the storms.  He in particular is tasked with placing scientific probes in the path of the tornadoes.  We got to spend a good bit of time chatting with Justin about their chases this past tornado season and in particular the ones in the north central Kansas area where a good bit of my family lives.  He had some fascinating anecdotes to share about the storms, in particular the one that struck near Glen Elder, KS.

    Bobby with Justin Walker of Storm Chasers.
    Bobby with Justin Walker of Storm Chasers.

    For those that didn’t make it up there, you really missed a great opportunity for kids to learn more about not only the weather but also things like energy, the environment and more.

    Colorado Weather, Thornton Weather, Weather History

    This week in Denver weather history – October 26 to November 1

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    This week in Denver weather history - October 26 to November 1.
    This week in Denver weather history - October 26 to November 1.

    Lots of interesting stuff in this look back at Denver weather history for the week of October 26th to November 1st.  Lots of snow including some major storms and the seemingly ever present wind are on this look into history. 

    PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
    NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
    645 PM MDT SAT OCT 25 2008

    …THIS WEEK IN METRO DENVER WEATHER HISTORY…

    25-26 IN 1996…4 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW FELL IN THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF
            DENVER.  ONLY 1.5 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WERE MEASURED AT THE
            SITE OF THE FORMER STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE
            26TH.  THIS WAS THE ONLY MEASURABLE SNOW OF THE MONTH AT
            THE SITE.  THE SNOWFALL PRODUCED ICY AND SNOWPACKED
            HIGHWAYS…WHICH RESULTED IN A 50-TO 60-CAR PILEUP ON I-25
            SOUTH OF METRO DENVER.  WEST WINDS GUSTED TO 33 MPH AT
            DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
          IN 2006…A WINTER STORM BROUGHT HEAVY SNOWFALL TO METRO
            DENVER AND THE EASTERN FOOTHILLS.  TOTAL SNOWFALL RANGED
            FROM 12 TO 22 INCHES OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND 6 TO 12
            INCHES ACROSS METRO DENVER.  NORTHERLY WINDS AT SUSTAINED
            SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 47 MPH AT
            DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHIPPED THE SNOW INTO DRIFTS
            3 TO 4 FEET DEEP.  MANY TREE LIMBS SNAPPED UNDER THE WEIGHT
            OF THE HEAVY…WET SNOW WHICH ALSO DOWNED POWER LINES…
            LEAVING THOUSANDS OF RESIDENTS WITHOUT POWER.  STORM TOTAL
            SNOWFALL INCLUDED:  25 INCHES NEAR ASPEN SPRINGS…CONIFER…
            AND EVERGREEN; 23.5 INCHES NEAR ROLLINSVILLE; 23 INCHES IN
            IDAHO SPRINGS; 22.5 INCHES NEAR BLACKHAWK; 21.5 INCHES NEAR
            BAILEY; 19 INCHES NEAR BERGEN PARK; 18 INCHES NEAR ASPEN
            SPRINGS…GENESEE…AND JAMESTOWN; 17 INCHES SOUTHWEST OF
            BOULDER; 16 INCHES IN EVERGREEN; AND 15 INCHES NEAR
            GEORGETOWN AND PERRY PARK.  SNOWFALL TOTALED 5.3 INCHES
            IN THE DENVER STAPLETON AREA.  AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
            AIPORT…RAIN…INCLUDING A THUNDERSTORM…CHANGED TO SNOW
            ON THE EVENING OF THE 25TH AFTER A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF
            70 DEGREES.
    Continue reading This week in Denver weather history – October 26 to November 1 →